Various shoulder joint implant art is known. Such an implant can be an ensemble for total or perhaps partial joint replacement of the main joint of the shoulder, the glenohumeral joint, the configuration of which, conventionally, attempts to mimic the configuration of the natural glenohumeral joint, generally having an implanted artificial humeral component with a ball-like head, say, of metal or ceramic, which articulates in and against a generally shallow open cup, say, of polyethylene or metal, of an implanted artificial glenoid component in a total arthroplasty or perhaps against the natural glenoid cup in a hemiarthroplasty. As good as such art can be, it is not without its drawbacks. Among these are that natural range of motion is difficult if not well nigh impossible to achieve, and the shoulder, being an enarthrodial joint and the joint of the body with the greatest range of motion by way of having its head held in place to a great extent by means of muscle, fibrous capsule and ligamentous tendon structures in a shallow cup, the “glenoid,” can be prone to dislocation, even after joint replacement surgery with a device of such art. The most frequent cause of unsuccessful shoulder joint replacement is failure of fixation through loosening of known glenoid components, not infrequently caused by compromise of mounting of a metal shell holding the cup, or compromise of a cemented plastic cup, to a surgically prepared portion on the quite thin and fragile scapular bone (glenoid area). This deficit of glenoid area supporting bone may need to be addressed.
Reverse shoulder implants are also known. In such implants, a ball head is provided as part of the glenoid component, with a corresponding cup as part of the humeral component. Such art, too, is not without its drawbacks, among which may include dislocation and/or glenoid component loosening as with the more anatomically conventional shoulder joint implants discussed in general above.
It would be desirable to improve upon the art. It would be desirable, in particular, to provide a shoulder joint implant that ameliorates if not solves in general one or more of the problems in the art, notably dislocation, loosening and/or supporting bone deficit of the glenoid area, and motion range. It is desirable to provide alternative(s).